Leeds Carnegie head coach Neil Back has steered the Headingly-based club back to England's top flight © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Neil Back

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Teams: England | Leeds Tykes

Leeds have taken immediate steps to persuade reluctant Yorkshire rugby fans to support the Headingley-based club in another attempt at establishing a team in the Premiership.

No sooner had Neil Back's squad been confirmed champions at the weekend of National League One, season tickets for the 2009-10 campaign were going on sale, led by the offer of junior tickets at £10 a head.

Officials claim the £10 price is the lowest in the Premiership, surpassing the moves at Newcastle where juniors can buy a season pass at £34. Economic reasons are behind the move but also the continued reluctance of Yorkshire's huge rugby-loving population to support a Premiership team on a regular basis.

After Middlesex, the Broad Acres is the biggest rugby-playing county in England yet the numbers have never been regularly reflected in attendances at Headingley, even in the glory season of 2004-05 when Phil Davies guided the team to win the Powergen Cup. Yorkshire rugby union folk will happily turn up for the big games, but refrain from going week-in, week-out. Some might say they are a canny lot yet there are also local reasons, led by an ingrained loyalty to a host of traditional clubs all the way down the league pyramid.

Leeds are setting out to build from a 3,000 crowd in National League One this season to a level of about 7,000 which was the average attendance when they were relegated from the Premiership a year ago. Backed by the marketing powers of Leeds Metropolitan University, who are majority shareholders, they will never be short on ideas or enthusiasm in pushing the Carnegie sports brand. One free ticket to a Yorkshire cricket match or a Leeds Rhinos rugby league game are among the other incentives.

Enthusiasm is something that exudes from the coaching team of Back and Andy Key. This ex-Leicester combo took over last June when Leeds, literally, fell out of the Premiership when finishing 22 points behind 11th-placed Newcastle. Gary Hetherington, the chief executive, believes the squad returning to the top-flight is far stronger than the one which was relegated 12 months ago having won only two games.

Hetherington accepts Leeds will start out "everyone's favourites" to be relegated again. "We are stronger than last time and have made strides in our off-field resources but the other Premiership teams are also stronger. In many ways you have to keep improving just to stand still in the league," he said. The arrival of fitness expert Steve Nance (ex-Brisbane Broncos) is said to rival the knowledge available at other Premiership clubs.

"Neil and Andy were on a hiding to nothing," Hetherington continued. "They had to win promotion at the first time of asking while still looking to build a squad capable of playing in the Premiership. They have done very well.

"If we had not won promotion then prospects were fairly bleak without a 'parachute' payment next season. We've got a much bigger squad and have been able to rotate players, we've never really put the same team out twice."

Leeds are said to be looking for about 10 new faces, including new halfbacks. Among the possible names mentioned has been Leinster's ex-Wallaby scrum-half Chris Whitaker. Already the Leicester connections of Back and Key have persuaded Marco Wentzel, the Tigers' South African lock, to sign up for next season.

A number of young players - led by lock Danny Paul and England under-20s captain Calum Clark - are emerging to continue the club's reputation for developing talent forged by the likes of Danny Care, Tom Palmer and Jordan Crane. England sevens wing Tom Biggs, another member of that talented gang, must make a decision whether to seek a new contract or to carry out his original intention to leave the club at the end of the season.

Back said he was relishing the prospect of taking on the likes of Leicester. "We've had two slip ups during the season but we won 27 games out of 29 which is pretty good. Our strength in depth was crucial. We were chased by Exeter but thankfully they fell off the horse. The support has been fantastic and hopefully they will be back next season along with new faces. It will be tough but we accept that. I am looking forward to the challenge."